About Root Cause Garden

Root Cause Garden helps you work out why a plant is struggling, then fix the cause rather than the symptom. It also gives frost and planting dates for your ZIP code, and care guides for common houseplants.

Who writes it

The site is written by Abdi S. I look after the lawn in my backyard and mow it every month.

I love living close to nature, surrounded by trees and green space. Root Cause Garden is my way of helping people who feel the same: people who want their plants, gardens and lawns to do well, and want to understand why things go wrong.

I’m not a professional horticulturist. That’s exactly why every guide here is built from university extension services and other public research rather than my own opinions, with the sources linked on every page so you can check them yourself.

I also started this site to learn. If you’ve grown plants for years and spot a mistake, or know something a page is missing, please get in touch. Every message makes the site better for everyone who uses it.

How every page is researched

• Every diagnosis, care tip and planting time is checked against university extension services and other public sources, which are listed and linked at the bottom of each page.
• Each guide shows the date it was last checked, and where sources disagree, the page says so.
• Symptom pictures are labeled illustrations; real photos are openly licensed and credited.
• Frost dates come from NOAA's 1991–2020 climate data for more than 7,000 US weather stations, matched to your ZIP code.

The full process is in how we research our plant guides.

How the site is funded

The site has no ads or affiliate links yet. We plan to cover its costs with display ads and, where a product is the direct fix for a problem, clearly marked affiliate links. Neither will ever change what we recommend: see our disclosure.

Get in touch

Spotted a mistake or have a question about the site? Contact us. We read every message, and every error report is checked against our sources.